


Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

by jattendrai



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Undertale Neutral Route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 11:04:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15705957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jattendrai/pseuds/jattendrai
Summary: “ Silica is a compound found naturally in quartz crystals and other living beings. It was assumed that monsters, too, had this compound released by their bodies in the form of dust, though there was no scientific proof on the matter at first.”





	Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

**Author's Note:**

> I recently just did a neutral run where you only kill MTT and I wanted to get my weird feelings out about it cause MAN and I hurt....

“ _ Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis _ .”

Frisk tilted their head up to Chara, confused by whatever  _ that  _ was that they just said.

“ Yes, I know, it's a big, dumb word that I can't even fit into the stupid text boxes. But listen to me for a second.”

They were right before NEW HOME, hanging outside the front doors in the leaves. Frisk had just saved at one of the stars, fixating themselves on the path put before them; in the room before them, down the elevator and past the capital, lay a decision that they chose to make themselves. An unspeakable decision.

“ I learned that word from mom --- Toriel. Her. It was created by humans as the longest word in the language. She thought it was interesting how we --- that humans just made up words like that. Do you know what it means, Frisk?”

They shook their head. A fine amount of dust fell from their hair.

“ It's another word for Silicosis. Do you know what  _ that  _ is, Frisk?”

Again, they shook their head, and Chara crossed their arms. NEW HOME had a staleness to it's air outside, one that bothered Frisk a bit, so they marched inside. It wasn't any better in there. 

“ Silicosis is a disease caused by inhaling Silica dust,” They started, floating behind Frisk as the child searched around the house. It was close to exactly like HOME, minus a few details here or there. It was bland, too, colorless, lacking the warmth HOME had in it's color palette. Buttercups were potted about to give it pops of color, luckily.

“ It disrupts the functions of the human lungs and causes such effects as nodular lesions --- cuts, I guess --- and quickened breaths, coughs, and chest pains. It destroys the respiratory system.of humans and some monsters.”

Frisk reads the note on the latch before heading to the kitchen, then down the hall. Chara stayed silent as they did.

There was a large mirror sitting just at the end of the hall when they got there, just like in HOME, and they waddle over to look into it. Their reflections were crisp and clear.

It was funny to look in the mirror, actually. Frisk just reached to above it's frame so that their face was reflected, but everything else was cut off. Surprisingly, Chara could be seen in the reflection too, floating just above their shoulder with a slack body.

It was there that Frisk caught Chara’s gaze, and it sunk their heart.

They were doing their creepy face.

“ You know what I'm getting at, aren't you?” 

Frisk shook their head with a more distressed look to them.

“ Silica is a compound found naturally in quartz crystals and other living beings. It was assumed that monsters, too, had this compound released by their bodies in the form of dust, though their was no scientific proof on the matter at first.”

Frisk began to feel sick. They didn't want to look at their reflection anymore, but a heaviness kept them in their place, endlessly gazing at the magnified opposition of themselves held behind glass. Chara didn't flinch.

“ Do you know how I know this, Frisk?” Their voice was like a sharp pain in their skull, paralyzing them with every word. Frisk shook their head again.

“ I saw some papers on the royal scientist’s desk about it.”

Frisk could feel their stomach turn inside out.

“ I peaked a glance out of curiosity, while you were occupied with the quiz show. The papers looked like they were almost finished too, just a few revisions would've done it good.”

Their reflection grew murky. Like it wasn't their reflection anymore; like someone else was looking back at them. They looked like they were in great pain.

A sharp inhale, a choke before the tears, and for a moment they felt as if something scratched against their throat. Like a fine dust.

“ Now they'll never know. Maybe they were right, or wrong. Maybe it's just a big, silly word. It doesn't matter know, huh? Nothing she did matters now.”

Their face returned to normal, an expression of anguish falling across them as they turned their gaze from Frisk’s reflection to their own. They were laughing a bit.

“ Maybe you helped her with her research. Where else would she get monster dust to sample? Now she has a fresh batch.”

Frisk felt like they were going to vomit. Chara was taunting them now and they took it all in, not knowing what else to do. Where would they go anyway? They were tacked together like this, but they  _ didn't want to hear it _ . It was becoming too much.

Frisk bursted into tears then. Chara went unwavered, dead, red eyes glancing at the other child as they clutched to their sweater and began to wail, like the child they were. It was loud and obnoxious, and there was no room for empathy anymore, so they phased out of the room and left Frisk to cry, all alone in NEW HOME.

Frisk collapsed to their bottom and continued crying, wiping their face as best as they could with their arm sleeves. Every sob and cry echoed down the empty halls, with nobody to hear them for who knows how far.

They had a choice, and they regretted their actions. They  _ regretted  _ it. But their actions were already saved, written into permanent existence, and it was what they had to live with. They couldn't go back and re-do it, it wasn't a practice performance that could get fixed upon. No, it was opening night, and they messed it all up. They messed everything up.

Frisk just wanted to go home.

  
  


Chara re-appeared before them with an apathetic look once they were done. Their face was tucked into their knees and refused to lift their head up to Chara, instead clutching their stocking-clad legs in hopes to stay hidden. It was pathetic to look at, so Chara moved back over to the mirror.

They pressed their hand to the mirror.

“ Maybe now you know how she felt,” Chara murmured.


End file.
